By Mallika Etulgama
The Portuguese and the Dutch ransacked and burnt villages on their attempts to capture Kingdom of Kandy, but the British, after they came into a so-called Treaty with the Kandyan Chiefs, did little damage compared to the other foreign powers. One does not hold a brief to the British, but what they had done for the arts and crafts has been for the good of the country.
As Robert Knox, the British prisoner puts it across, the British pulled down the buildings of the Kandyans, and tried to make it an English town. He says that before long the country would be converted to a British hamlet, if things were done as they wanted.

The British covered most the buildings and ancient structures, but they did little damage.
Take for instance the Old Kachcheri premises, which was later the Courts Complex. This was the Palace of Wimaladharasuriya, which foundation was covered with soil and the Kachcheri built over it. A few years ago an excavation was done and they found two rooms of the old Palace. What did our people do? After some time, the excavations were closed, for ever, is the opinion of most.

The ‘Kudama Maduwa’ where the Palanquins were stored for the use of the King, is the present Kandyan Art Association. The British used it as a hospital after the Kandyan Treaty, but kept this old building intact and in good shape. Today it is the ‘Home’ of the Arts of the Kandyan artificers.
Around I822 the Government Agent J F Dickson who was later knighted gave his patronage for the Arts of the Kandyan people, by establishing the Kandyan Art Association. He set up a Committee and rules for its continuity and even today, the Government Agent who is now the District Secretary heads this Association.
There is a Board headed by the District Secretary Gamini Seneviratne and a Committee to purchase articles from those who bring out the material, such as Brass and Silverware. Carvings are also accepted from the people who turn them out in the Kandyan Region or the Central Province.
The Kandyan people were confined to their land and they did what was allotted to them. There were no roads as such in these hamlets, but the demarcation was the boundaries and each had work to do, either farming or turning out material for the people or to the King.

Based on the Association purchases, brass, silver, wood carvings and a host of other objects are turned out by each family for generations. There are 90 such families who supply the Art Association while there are I20 on the register. Only ninety are continuous suppliers to this Association.
The building has seen little changes and the underground is made into an area where they could have exhibitions, especially for artistic work. The building itself has not seen any major changes, except that the ‘dungeon ‘ has been converted to an Exhibition Hall.

There are artists working at this building, who demonstrate their work for the benefit of the foreigners and the locals who come to purchase goods from this Association.
During the early part of this Association, the work was centred in the Kachcheri premises, which was right behind the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Then from here the Association had its second home at the ‘Pahala Whala’ building which was a building that was used by the King to meet his first Queen or some records says that this building was used to meet a concubine, from the quarters, where his concubines were placed, which is the present Museum.

However, again the Association shifted itself to the present building by 1924. The Association became a Trust in 1919. This perhaps could be the oldest Association where people who have been turning out material for generations have come together for a common purpose to preserve their trade. This is then the foresight of a Britisher, who thought that the Arts should be preserved for the future.

In fact certain records points out that the Association was established in 1820. However Government Agent J. F. Dickson is treated as the founder member of the Kandy Arts and Crafts Association. The basic qualification to enter into membership of the Association is that they should be from a family of a generation of the craftsman.
There is a Board of Management, composed of nineteen members that manage the Association and a smaller committee which selects the goods that are purchased for sale, according to the Manager of the Association.
The King selected the best of craftsmen for his work and gave them his patronage. With the conquest of the Kandyan Kingdom, they had to be satisfied from the little work that would be done by people around them and also by the well established Chiefs.

It is then in this context that J F Dickson saw a method of helping the craftsmen and also keep the crafts going. Because by the end of the 19th Century only a few of the craftsman were left, as they had no work.
The present membership of the craftsman is drawn from various villages where the crafts are practiced, which includes Matale, where lacquer work and ‘Sesath and Spears’ or popularly known as ‘Mura Auyadha.’ The Kandy Perahera also kept the Arts and Crafts going, without which it would be a dying Art.

However, in order to make these crafts more popular, there should be different outlook. Take for instance the popular Traditional Lamp. Day in and Day out these are wrought out in the same manner and same weight. Tourists have no way to take them with them, due to its weight, so it is a popular object only within the country. There should be a change which can only be done by designers and those who could adapt it for the world market. This is only an example, there are many which could be turned out for the world market, but there seems to be some failing somewhere on the line. No doubt there are centers for the benefit of the craftsman, but there is more that could be done for them. If not it could be converted to a dying Art.

The Silver and Gold craftsmen has an edge over the Brass and Copper, which should not be so as they are equally important for the country and a money spinner for the country, it the proper areas are tapped.
In a nutshell, the words of Robert Knox brings the base of the Arts and Crafts in the Kandy Kingdom and even now. The craft is hereditary and exclusive. ‘No artificer changed his craft, but from generation to generation and marriages have moved from one craft to another’. At least there is a lesson.
There was a time when the Association was to be thrown open, but some felt that it would be commercialised. However there should be changes.

Thanks to the late Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, he pumped two years of his decentralised Budget funds to this Association to bring it to the present level, when it was dying and needed rehabilitation
The present state of the building and its surroundings are the endeavours of Minister Kadirgamar.